The conquest of space means man is no longer tied to the planet Earth ~ James Irwin, Apollo 15

Star Trek

The Webpage

Star Trek first aired in 1967, the first pilot episode for CBS having been shelved in 1966 ("The Cage" was later used in a 2-part episode, the only two-parter in the series). It was on the Desilu lot next to Mission Impossible, and Leonard Nimoy would later join the IMF (Impossible Missions Force) when Star Trek was cancelled. Though he co-wrote/produced a marginally successful sci-fi series in recent years, William Shatner would not star in another sci-fi series, though he did play himself (as Capt. Kirk) in a cameo on the tv series Mork & Mindy. Other than Star Trek movies, the only cast members of the original series that have continued sci-fi careers are Chekov (playing a new character in Babylon 5) and Majel Barrett (playing recurring characters on "Deep Space 9" and "Earth: Final Conflict," unless you count James Doohan's cameos as Scotty on the Tonight Show and "Homeboys From Outer Space" (an ill-advised 4th-network sitcom). CBS had commissioned the first Star Trek pilot, then didn't buy it (preferring Lost In Space instead), but Desilu Studios had just lost My Favorite Martian when it wasn't renewed and was willing to take a chance on another scifi-fantasy series, along with NBC. In Star Trek's second season, Desilu was taken over by Paramount, and in the third season Paramount was taken over by Gulf-Western Corp. Ironically, CBS now owns Paramount.

Click here for the Star Trek Animated titles list page with my ep descriptions. Five of the stars of the 1960s Star Trek and 1974 animated series guest starred on the season-ending episode of the animated Fox series "Futurama" on 4/21/02

No STAR TREK 1960s episode titles are scheduled on SYFY or TV Land so far this yearSTAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION has also moved to Chicago superstation WGN weeknights @ 1am EST
subtract 3 hours for Pacific Time on WGN listings, and BBC America

No upcoming show dates available for TVLAND
(note: TV-Land, WGN and CW only provide listings 2 weeks at a time)

Broadcasts starring Leonard Nimoy this week:

William Shatner looks at an ad for the new Star Trek movie

18 episodes of William Shatner's TV-series TEK WAR can now be seen for free at the SCIFI.com/drivein

Stardate 01.22.2010: The son of STAR TREK creator GENE RODDENBERRY has teamed up with movie director RON HOWARD to bring one of his late father's forgotten TV projects back to the small screen. Rod Roddenberry has struck a deal with Howard's Imagine TV company to develop The Questor Tapes into a new show. The script, about a robot with incomplete memory tapes who is searching for his creator, was originally written by Roddenberry as a 13-episode TV series, but after disagreements with bosses at America's NBC network the sci-fi mogul abandoned the project. The production eventually aired as a one-off small screen movie in 1974 - and now Roddenberry's son is hoping to bring The Questor Tapes back to life to honour his dad's memory. "My father always felt that Questor was the one that got away. He believed that the show had the potential to be bigger than Star Trek."

MAJEL BARRETT-RODDENBERRY, the actress widow of STAR TREK creator GENE RODDENBERRY, died at the age of 76. She lost her battle with leukaemia at her Bel-Air, California home on Thursday (Dec.18.2008). Her son Rod was by her side, reports Access Hollywood. She guest-starred in TV shows Bonanza, Leave it to Beaver, and The Lucy Show during her acting career - but she will be best remembered for her association with Star Trek. The actress has played a part in every incarnation of the sci-fi show since it premiered in 1966, and only recently completed voiceover work as the voice of the Starship Enterprise in the new J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie. A public memorial took place January 2009. Husband Gene Roddenberry (70) died in 1991

Star Trekkin

William Shatner News

* Note: "How William Shatner Changed The World" was originally titled "How Star Trek Changed The World" but Paramount Studios would not let the History Channel use the trademark phrase "Star Trek" in 2005 so William Shatner gave permission for his name to be used in the title instead. DeForest Kelley was in "Gunfight At The O.K. Corral" (1957) as well as a Star Trek ep based on the same story; and he was in the 1959 non-magic western movie "Warlock," no relation to the later sci-fi movie Warlock

There have been a lot of Star Trek spoofs and pseudo-documentaries over the years, but the best I've seen doesn't even have Star Trek in the title. It's called Galaxy Quest (1999) and is now out on DVD. Peaceful aliens being menaced by a powerful conquerer see episodes of a 20-year old science fiction series and beam up the actors onto a real version of their tv starship. It takes them awhile to get used to the idea, but the captain (Tim Allen)'s inventive use of magnetic mines against the much bigger and more powerful foe is right out of Captain Kirk's play-it-by-ear-and-hope-it-works rulebook. And you won't even recognize Sigourney Weaver at first (she says she prefers comedy to the intense movies like the four Alien movies). By the way, if you're looking for a way to introduce science fiction to your kids, check out Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins. It's even better than the two computer-generated Toy Story movies that the character is lifted from.Click here if you think Tim Allen is the best actor there's ever been since the beginning of time

Hey! Didja think that "Generations" (the 7th Star Trek movie) was the best one in the series? Me neither. Here's the Scifans.com official Generations review, including comments from that guy stuck in space with two robots on Mystery Science Theater 3000

Can you name two Star Trek movies directed by Nimoy? Or the one about Spock's brother? Or what went wrong with the first man to come back from Venus? These and other questions are answered on MonsterVision host segments for Cold Hands, Warm Heart / I, Robot, the Outer Limits episodes that starred William Shatner & Leonard Nimoy

After Star Trek went off the air, Gene Roddenberry tried some other ideas as movie/pilots including The Questor Tapes (1974, an android sent to save Earth from itself) and two pilot/movies about a post-apocalyptic Earth called "Genesis II" (1973, starring Alex Cord of Airwolf) and "Planet Earth" (1974, starring John Saxon of Enter The Dragon), then the horror/suspense SPECTRE (1977, starring Robert Culp and an evil druid spirit)

Too weird? Well, did you know that in the late 1950s, Gene was head writer for the western series "Have Gun Will Travel"? At least 2 episodes were later redone as S.T. episodes: Monster of Moon Ridge became Devil In The Dark, and his version of Shakespeare's Helen Of Troy/Taming Of The Shrew became a Calamity Jane episode, then ST episode Elaan Of Troyius

Star Trek - Complete Seasons 1 to 3 are available on DVD from Amazon.com, as well as complete seasons of the "other" Star Trek series

Steam Trek: The Moving Picture (1899)

This lost silent movie from the 1890s is set in the far-off future year of 1980, with the USS Isambard taking the place of the Enterprise. A popular film on the Sci-fi and Star Trek convention circuit for over a decade, it was only recently posted online. Click here to see video and complete info on Steam Trek: The Moving Picture

From the studio that brought you the 2-minute trailer for Illegal Aliens (From Another Planet) starring Anna Nicole Smith

Fun fact:
One of the witnesses invited to the launch of Apollo 17 to the Moon was 131-year-old Charley Smith, who said he still didn't believe it. "I don't believe they're going to the moon. They say they brought back rocks, but if they did, they took them with them." Charley had been a skeptic since before the Civil War, ever since a slave ship captain in Africa tricked him into going to America, where pancakes grow on trees.

Fun fact:
The Frankish Empire dominated Europe for centuries, so the Persians called the place Crusaders came from Frangistan and the people as farangis. Some Orthodox Christians on Greek islands still refer to themselves as Frangoi and Arabs referred to Westerners as al-Faranj. In Bengal, men were recruited from villages under the Zamindari system by local landlords to fight off "Feringhi" pirates (the term in Hindustani language), and some Muslims still refer to Westerners as Feringhis.

According to Ripley's Believe It Or Not, human blood is red because of iron content. The Horseshoe Crab, like Mr. Spock, has copper-based blood so it's blood is bluegreen in color

Enterprise Rent-A-Car is named after the USS Enterprise and has the website Enterprise.com, named for the aircraft carrier the company's founder served on in WW2

"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" was written by Mozart when he was 5 years old, believe it or not